Auchincruive, an estate near Ayr, in southwest Scotland, holds the national collection of oriental poppies, including the lovely red and white ‘Victoria Cross’. This seems appropriate, as it is also home to Gardening Leave, the only charity in the country to offer horticultural therapy to former servicemen and women with mental-health problems.

The annual Poppy Appeal in aid of all servicemen is under way, but veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychological damage often slip through the net. Such problems may not be recognised for years; symptoms include flashbacks, depression, anxiety and mood swings. The consequences can be devastating — in some cases leading to domestic violence, antisocial behaviour or dependence on drink or drugs.

A recent report by the National Association of Probation Officers estimated that more than 20,000 veterans are either on probation or behind bars: more than the total number of service personnel in Afghanistan at present.

Gardening Leave was set up two years ago by Anna Baker Cresswell, 44, who studied horticultural therapy at Coventry University. The veterans — never “patients” or “clients”, and their former ranks are not used — are referred there by Combat Stress, a charity that helps former service personnel with mental-health problems. One of its three treatment centres is at Hollybush House, also near Ayr, which is one reason Baker Cresswell based Gardening Leave nearby.

Gardening jobs have different effects: sowing or potting up, for example, helps with anxiety, as it is calming and methodical, which means you have control over the task. “It is also diversionary, as you have to concentrate hard,” says Baker Cresswell. “Planting bulbs can help people’s attention span, as you can break the activity down into small, achievable tasks, such as finding the pots and getting the crocks for the bottom.” Working with people who have similar experiences is also beneficial.

Stevie Gibb, 39, served in the Royal Highland Fusiliers in the first Gulf war and left the army in 1994. Like many others, he found it difficult to adjust to civilian life, and took to the bottle before ending up at Hollybush and Gardening Leave. Just the act of driving there is positive: it means hours away from “self-medicating” and staring at the walls in his flat in Kilmarnock. “It is a sense of achievement that you’ve done something with your day,” he says. He admits he doesn’t do as much in the garden as some of the others, although he designed the charity’s stand at this year’s Ayr Flower Show (it won silver) and helps with the newsletter.

Allan Young, 50, is rather more horticulturally hands-on, and shows off some of the fancy tomatoes he has grown from seed in the greenhouse. He was in both the RAF and the army, serving in Northern Ireland and the Falklands, and never really saw the point of gardening: “When you lived in married quarters [he is no longer married], you’d do it up, then you would get posted somewhere else.”

He likes to make things in the covered work area, although he wishes the end could be blocked off so people don’t surprise him — he has not found it easy to lose the hypervigilance soldiers acquire from not knowing if the man next to you is going to blow you up.

The veterans supply vegetables for the kitchens at Hollybush, the chef there telling them what he would like (no to runner beans; yes to onions, parsley and leeks). They also raise lots of house plants, taking many of them home to look after: bonsai is particularly popular.

This winter — the hardest time, as the veterans often suffer from seasonal affected disorder and depression during the long dark months — Baker Cresswell intends to get going on the dilapidated Victorian glasshouse, which is in need of repair. “It will give us much-needed space, heat and light to paint and do woodwork.” For the veterans, the thought of raising hot-house plants has “really flicked their switches — there is a good deal of anticipation”.

She is hoping to find gardens near Combat Stress’s treatment centres in Surrey and Shropshire, and has agreed with the Royal Hospital Chelsea, in central London, that there there should be a Gardening Leave based there, although she is still waiting to hear where the actual site might be. Those attending this garden would come not only through Combat Stress, but through other veteran organisations.

At Auchincruive, the veterans are planting up their Christmas bulbs, and the last of the leeks went in a couple of weeks ago. For Tracey Smith, 37, a quiet, shy woman who walks with a stick, having injured her back in a motorcycle accident while serving in the RAF, the place is “a godsend”.

“Nothing is asked of you. You can do as much as you want, when you want. I’ve been having a tough time lately and, if I come here, it helps me to chill and grounds me. It’s brilliant,” she adds, a broad smile making its way across her face.

gardeningleave.org

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